novelraw Chapter 283: I'm Really a Good Citizen
Chapter 283: I'm Really a Good Citizen
Su Zhan lay down fully clothed, maintaining a half-asleep, half-awake state of vigilance as he rested for a few hours.
The horizon began to pale with the first light of dawn.
The city had not yet fully awakened.
Su Zhan left his hiding place.
He chose to navigate through the complex network of old alleys at the city's edge, relying on his Future Vision.
He was always able to avoid the surveillance cameras on the main roads ahead of time.
Yet, Su Zhan had only been walking on the streets for less than half an hour when his brow furrowed slightly.
Something was off.
The number of patrol team members wearing Aberrant Purge Division uniforms on the streets was noticeably higher than he had anticipated.
Their gazes swept sharply over passing pedestrians and vehicles, especially at key nodes like bus stations and intersections, where the frequency and thoroughness of their checks far exceeded the usual level.That wasn't all.
Su Zhan's perception far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Among the crowd, there were individuals with restrained auras.
They disguised themselves as passersby, street vendors, sanitation workers...
Their attention was highly focused, constantly searching for a specific target.
These were undercover agents.
Open patrols and inspections, combined with covert surveillance and monitoring... a mobilization on this scale was absolutely not for routine public security.
"They moved this fast..."
A chill ran through Su Zhan's heart. He lowered the brim of his baseball cap, suppressed his aura, and blended into the crowd of early commuters, appearing like an utterly ordinary worker.
"Is it to catch me?"
Su Zhan thought to himself, "It seems capturing me is a high priority. They're setting up a net, trying to prevent me from fleeing to other cities."
He had originally planned to find black market channels as soon as possible, but now it appeared the Aberrant Purge Division had already cast a wide net. Any attempt to contact illegal channels would likely be walking right into a trap.
The other side clearly anticipated that someone needing to hide their identity would inevitably require some shady means to obtain a new one.
The situation was even more severe than he had imagined when he first entered the city.
Su Zhan didn't dare linger on the streets any longer and quickly turned into an even more remote and dilapidated alley.
Here, filthy water flowed across the ground, flanked by towering self-built residential buildings.
There were also far fewer surveillance cameras.
Su Zhan leaned against the shadows beside a garbage bin, quickly pondering his options.
A direct confrontation was definitely not feasible;
exposing his true strength would be suicide.
Continuing to search for the black market carried an extremely high risk.
Staying in the city meant he would eventually be found by this carpet-style search.
"I must leave Dingyuan City as soon as possible."
Su Zhan made his judgment.
This place had already become a carefully laid trap.
But how to leave?
Bus stations and highway exits were bound to be under heavy surveillance.
Leaving the city on foot or using ordinary transportation would be extremely difficult under the current circumstances of pervasive cameras and undercover sentries.
Su Zhan's gaze turned toward the city's underbelly.
That intricate network of underground pipelines.
Perhaps that was the route that could bypass all eyes and ears and lead him out of this city.
Back to crawling through sewers again?
Su Zhan felt a sense of helplessness.
He had once mocked Liu Ziming for it, but now it seemed he wasn't much better.
After observing his surroundings and confirming no one was around, Su Zhan applied slight pressure with his fingertips, pried open the heavy iron manhole cover, revealing the pitch-black opening below.
A wave of intense, foul stench instantly assaulted his senses.
Su Zhan didn't even frown.
Having struggled to survive in the environment of the Mist World, this level of stench was merely unpleasant to him.
Su Zhan leaped down, and during his descent, he used a deft, reverse motion to restore the iron cover to its original position.
His body landed in knee-deep sewage.
Inside the sewer, it was pitch black.
But this didn't trouble Su Zhan. His golden vertical pupils glowed faintly in the darkness, providing sufficient night vision.
He maintained his Future Vision in a warning state.
Su Zhan identified the direction and began trudging through the sewage, taking deep, laborious steps.
Underfoot was slippery sludge and unidentifiable garbage, making each step exceptionally difficult.
The pipe walls were covered in slimy moss.
Icy water droplets dripped from above intermittently.
The air was thin in oxygen, permeated with the smell of harmful gases.
Su Zhan had to mobilize a small amount of Mist Energy to form an extremely thin filtration membrane over his nose and mouth to breathe normally.
Occasionally, the muffled roar of vehicles passing overhead echoed down.
During the journey, he encountered some trouble.
Ahead, the pipe was blocked due to a collapse, forcing him to expend effort to painstakingly clear a path through a pile of bricks and sludge.
He didn't know how long he walked. Several hours, perhaps longer.
Su Zhan felt the flow of water at his feet accelerate, and the pipe gradually widened.
Ahead, faint light and the smell of fresh air became discernible.
That was the exit leading to the river channel or treatment plant on the city's outskirts!
Su Zhan quickened his pace and finally emerged from a massive drainage outlet located beneath the river embankment.
Su Zhan climbed onto the bank, wrung out his foul-smelling clothes, used the clean water he had prepared to briefly rinse his body, and changed into the last set of spare clothes from his backpack.
"Vroom..."
The roar of engines sounded.
At least five black off-road vehicles fanned out, surrounding him.
Doors opened, and dozens of individuals wearing Aberrant Purge Division uniforms swiftly exited, their gun muzzles uniformly trained on Su Zhan. Their movements were synchronized and disciplined.
Dozens of Awakened individuals stepped forward slowly, blocking Su Zhan's path.
The central figure was a middle-aged man with a cold, hard face. Surging Spiritual Energy fluctuations emanated from his body, unmistakably reaching the fourth stage of the Tide Realm.
The two individuals flanking him also possessed cultivation at the first or second stage of the Tide Realm.
This lineup far surpassed the investigation team outside Xichuan City.
Clearly, they had come prepared, determined to succeed.
The middle-aged man's gaze locked onto Su Zhan. "Halt! Aberrant Purge Division, official business! You are suspected of being involved in the recent series of abnormal Mist incidents in the northwestern Gobi Desert. You are to immediately cooperate with our investigation!"
Su Zhan raised his hands, indicating he was unarmed. "Off... Officer! You must have the wrong person, right? What Mist incidents? I'm just a lost hiker. I just came out of those woods over there, got dirty, and was washing up by the river..."
He hadn't expected to be discovered by the other side despite being so careful.
It seemed another fierce battle was inevitable.
Sigh. Since the other side was seeking death, he had no choice.
He wouldn't spare them or show mercy just because they were human.
If you try to kill me, you'd better be prepared to be killed by me.
A team member on the left sharply interrupted. "Stop playing dumb! Chen Qing, we have already verified your identity. Over the past year, you frequently entered and exited Xichuan City, purchasing large quantities of survival supplies, and ventured deep into the uninhabited zones of the Gobi Desert!
The deaths of three of our colleagues outside Xichuan City—dare you say they have nothing to do with you?"
"Chen Qing? I'm not Chen Qing, Officer! You really have the wrong person!"
Su Zhan's face showed even greater panic. "My name is Wang Lei. I'm just an independent traveler who likes to wander around. What Gobi Desert... I've never been there! I lost my ID and was just looking for a place to get a replacement!"
"Wang Lei? Then explain this: why do your physical characteristics and movement patterns highly match those of the wanted fugitive Chen Qing?"
The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes slightly. "And why, of all times and places, would you choose such an... unconventional route to leave Dingyuan City?"
"It's a coincidence! Absolutely a coincidence, Officer!"
Su Zhan's tone remained earnest. "I'm just the type who likes taking unconventional paths, finds it exciting... Officer, I really am a law-abiding citizen!"